Marcellus Drilling News

Industrywide Issues | Research

EIA DPR: Big Increase Coming for June U.S. NatGas Production
May 17, 2022May 27, 2022

Once again the number crunchers at the U.S. Energy Information Administration overestimated natural gas production in the Marcellus/Utica in the agency’s monthly Drilling Productivity Report (DPR), but not by much. Yesterday the EIA issued its latest DPR, for May, with estimates of how much production we will see in the seven largest shale plays in the U.S. for both May and the upcoming month of June. Last month for April’s report, the EIA predicted the M-U would produce 35.64 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas in May (see EIA DPR: Big Revision DOWN for April Natural Gas Production). Yesterday’s report revises the May number down to 35.48 Bcf/d. Fairly close. What about June? And what about Haynesville and Permian production?
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Diversified Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Ohio | Statewide OH

Diversified Energy Buys Second Well-Plugging Co. – Based in OH
May 17, 2022May 27, 2022

Diversified Energy is growing again. In February Diversified bought out and merged in well-plugging company Next LVL Energy, headquartered in the Pittsburgh area (see Diversified Energy Buys Well-Plugging Co. NextLVL Energy). Yesterday Diversified announced it is buying a second well-plugging company, Nick’s Well Plugging LLC, based in Warren, Ohio, for an undisclosed price. Diversified will add the personnel and equipment from Nick’s to Next LVL, bumping up the existing six well-plugging crews to eight, with plans to add a ninth soon.
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Energy Services | ProFrac

ProFrac Goes Public and Scores $288M – 4th Largest IPO This Yr
May 17, 2022May 27, 2022

ProFrac Holding Corp. is an oilfield services company that provides hydraulic fracturing, completion services, and other complementary products and services to drillers in the Marcellus/Utica, the Haynesville, the Midcontinent, and the Permian. The company is owned and backed by billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks, the same guys who bought out CARBO Ceramics (proppant company) in April 2020 after that company filed for bankruptcy (see CARBO Ceramics Files Prepackaged Bankruptcy, Selling to Wilks). ProFrac launched an initial public offering (IPO) last week, selling 16 million shares for $18 per share–well short of the target range.
Read More “ProFrac Goes Public and Scores $288M – 4th Largest IPO This Yr”
Commodity Price | Industrywide Issues | Storage

High Prices for M-U NatGas Means Less Storage, Coming Shortage
May 17, 2022May 27, 2022

According to S&P Global Commodity Insights, the difference between prices paid for natural gas this summer and the price gas is expected to bring in the coming winter months, are pretty darned close, which is unusual. Typically less natgas gets used in the summer and so the price decreases. It’s the perfect time for utilities and other major buyers to pay less for the gas and sock it away in storage, keeping it for the upcoming winter. But because forward prices are so high now, this summer, that’s not happening. Which means we in the northeast may not have enough natgas stored away when the cold temps of winter hit. The storm clouds are gathering on the horizon.
Read More “High Prices for M-U NatGas Means Less Storage, Coming Shortage”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydrogen | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Big Green Trash Talks Wolf’s Play for $2B Hydrogen Hub in PA
May 17, 2022May 27, 2022

Yesterday Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, one of the most left, radical governors in the country, endorsed an “aggressive push” to be THE state to grab one of four $2 billion regional hydrogen hubs financed under the so-called federal infrastructure bill (see PA Gov. Wolf Announces “Aggressive Push” to Get Hydrogen Hub). Wolf hasn’t yet read the memo from his pals in the Big Green movement, who are now turning against hydrogen energy. The latest example is the PA-based Breathe Project, which calls the proposed hydrogen hub and PA’s pursuit of it “a plan that will take us in the wrong direction.”
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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation

Chemical Industry Investment Linked to Shale Gas Tops $200 Billion
May 17, 2022May 27, 2022

Yesterday the American Chemistry Council (ACC) declared its undying love for homegrown, American shale gas. The ACC announced that U.S. chemical industry investment linked to plentiful and affordable domestic supplies of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs) has topped $200 billion. ACC recognized this historic milestone by reemphasizing the benefits of shale gas to the U.S. economy and the ways in which it supports the energy transition and a so-called lower-emissions future.
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation

INGAA Says Biden’s Words and Actions re NatGas Don’t Match
May 17, 2022May 27, 2022

There are some who actually believed Joe Biden when he was a candidate running for president, when Biden talked a good game about natural gas (we were not among them). Some believe President Biden now when he calls for more natural gas production to help Europe (we are not among them). But when you look at what Biden has and is saying, and then look at his administration’s policies, you get two completely different pictures. That’s the conclusion INGAA (the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America) comes to in a recent column that appears in (strangely) the left-leaning Utility Dive.
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Best of the Rest

Other Stories of Interest: Tue, May 17, 2022
May 17, 2022May 27, 2022

OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Tellurian hires former McDermott COO; Tennessee plans to boycott banks, financial institutions that divest from fossil fuels; NATIONAL: The US cannot make enough fuel; Shale pioneer Harold Hamm slams Biden’s “failed” energy policies; House Democrats’ gas price gouging bill panned as ‘socialism’; INTERNATIONAL: Oil rallies to March highs as fuel markets intensify.
Read More “Other Stories of Interest: Tue, May 17, 2022”